The Hon Andrew Robb AO MP

T-Qual Tourism Accreditation Scheme Discontinued

The Australian government has taken the decision to discontinue the T-Qual accreditation scheme which was created by the previous Labor Government and left with insufficient future funding.

The Coalition inherited a government-run scheme that was left with no forward funding and which had failed to achieve recognition among consumers. Latest research shows that just 17 per cent of consumers are even aware of the T-Qual brand with the number actually declining.

The T-Qual scheme also effectively duplicated a range of well-established and well-known accreditation and ratings’ systems which run across the tourism and hospitality sectors.

The Coalition’s firm view is that the tourism sector is best-placed to assess industry standards not government.

Consequently, the government took the scheme to tender to test industry capacity to administer it under a sustainable, self-funding model. Only one proponent responded to the request for tender.

Following a rigorous tender process the government determined that the scheme could not be transferred to industry under such a model and therefore determined to discontinue the program.

The Government had allocated up to $600,000 to support any transfer of the scheme and these funds will now be redirected to other initiatives to support the tourism sector.

The T-Qual accreditation scheme serves as yet another example of a failed Labor program which was insufficiently funded and based on the flawed premise that ‘government-knows-best’.

The Abbott Government is firmly committed to supporting the development and marketing of quality Australian tourism experiences.

It is doing so through a range of initiatives including the $43 million Tourism Demand Driver Infrastructure programme, $10 million to support the Australia-China Approved Destination Status (ADS) scheme and increased funding to Tourism Australia to market Australian tourism through campaigns such There’s nothing like Australia, Restaurant Australia and Best of Australia.